Super Mario and the Legend of the Fire Flower
by ATalkingMeowth
Summary: Mario must save the princess, but his journey will be wrought with difficulties. A twist on the classic Mario tale.


**Hello world of Fanfiction. I never really intended to publish any stories for this sight, but after writing this one for my English class I though it would be interesting to get some feedback from others as well. I assumed that my reader, who was my professor, had a limited or only basic knowledge of the Mario universe when writing this. I created a myth story based off of Mario, so it may be a bit weird; I hope anyone who reads can leave some feedback, and please enjoy!**

"The Legend of the Fire Flower"

On the outskirts of the Mushroom Kingdom, there is a humble house nestled comfortably in pleasant, grassy fields. The residents of this house, two brothers, were plumbers by profession. There was nothing particularly noteworthy about them, apart from their moderate physical prowess as a result of their profession – after all, plumbing in the Mushroom Kingdom is a very strenuous activity. Mario, the older of the two, was relaxing in his house enjoying his day off. His brother Luigi hadn't been around nearly as much the past year; after the theft of one of the Mushroom Kingdom's legendary treasures, Luigi had taken off in pursuit of the thief in hopes of winning the princess' favor. Luigi was absent again today, and as Mario had not heard from the princess of Mushroom Kingdom today, who he was in constant contact with, he had decided to take what he considered a well-deserved break. Unfortunately, his moment of serenity was not to last. A furious pounding on his front door jolted him from his rest, and he grudgingly arose to answer the door.

Opening the door, Mario looks down to see none other than the princess' chief steward, Frederick Toadsworth. All of the residents of the Mushroom kingdom aside from Mario, his brother Luigi, and the princess, were of a race of creatures known simply as Toads. The aforementioned Toad is one of the high-ranking officials who serve the princess. Normally calm and reserved, today Toadsworth (as he was known) looked unusually strained and exhausted, and there was a panicked look in his eyes that left Mario feeling deeply unsettled.

"I hope you'll excuse my intrusion, Mr. Mario, but would you kindly accompany me back to the castle? The Mushroom Kingdom is in dire need of your assistance."

Mario returns a curt nod in response and follows Toadsworth outside, unknowingly taking his first steps on an historic adventure.

Back in the castle, Mario observes the current chaos and disorder of the castle as they proceed into the throne room, which is mysteriously vacant and eerily silent in comparison to the rest of the castle.

"Last night the princess was kidnapped under our very noses," Toadsworth began abruptly, turning to face Mario just before the pair reached the empty throne. "We heard a commotion from within the princess' room, and as we gathered to discover the cause, a brutish fiend burst from the room, carrying the princess under his arm, but she was unconscious by this point. He declared himself the new ruler of our Mushroom Kingdom, and when we attempted to stop him he set several of us aflame with fire breath, scattering our remainder. He then retreated here to the throne room, where he summoned this magical warp pipe leading into the sewers underground." At this point in his speech, Toadsworth stopped to gesture towards the man-sized green pipe protruding from the ground next to the throne.

Toadsworth paused for a moment, clearing his throat before continuing,

"You and your brother are the only ones with an intricate knowledge of our warp pipe system that can rival this villain. Please, won't you aid us in our time of need?"

At this moment, Mario stares at Toadsworth, expressionless. He considers saying no – he wonders privately how much one man can possibly do, how much he can do. Then he quickly realizes that only he can help the Toads, who are in such disarray, and he knows that he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he let evil rob him and his Kingdom of their beloved princess and monarch.

"I will do everything within my power to rescue the princess and return order to this Kingdom. You have my word"

Toadsworth relaxes from his tenseness, relieved at the prospect of renewed hope.

"Thank you, Mario; we of the Mushroom Kingdom will be forever indebted to you. If you will follow me, I must give you one more thing before you depart."

Toadsworth then crawls underneath the throne as Mario looks on in confusion. He hears a peculiar noise from where he imagines Toadsworth to be, then suddenly the heavy throne slides to the side to reveal Toadsworth crouching atop a hidden trap door. He moves off and procures a key, unlocking the door and opening it to reveal a stone ladder descending into a dimly lit room.

"Please, come with me."

The two descend down the ladder into the semi-darkness, where Mario beholds in the center of an otherwise empty stone chamber an exquisite orange flower wreathed in eternal flame. It springs forth from the hard stone ground in seeming defiance of the natural world.

"This is one of the treasures of the Mushroom Kingdom, the legendary Flower of Fire. There were two once, but as you know, one of them was stolen." Toadsworth pauses to glance at his companion, but Mario only has eyes for the brilliant plant resting before them.

"Please, take it. It will help you on your journey."

Mario turns with surprised eyes to Toadsworth, incredulous, but the steward merely nods in acceptance. Filled with a sense of mystical awe, Mario approaches the flower and hesitates before its suddenly overwhelming heat. With trepid hands, he reaches forward and grasps the flower by its stem. He instantly feels a burning wave of heat shudder through his body, and after a brief moment of intense pain he notices that the flower has disappeared, and he is left feeling a strange new warmth flowing up and down his body.

"The Flower of Fire is said to give its possessor the ability to summon fire at will, although we don't know much about it. Please bring our princess home safely. Be careful and good luck."

Mario slides down the pipe and feels himself sliding through an other-worldly space below the surface of the Mushroom Kingdom. Soon, he falls through the other side and lands deftly on the wet, stony ground of his familiar sewers. Testing out his new mastery over the fire element, he summons a fireball in the palm of his hand to illuminate the dreary gloom of the sewers. He begins traveling forward, following nothing but his instincts on where he might find this treacherous fiend who has stolen his princess. Soon he begins to get the feeling that he is not alone, and after many weeks of arduous travel he arrives at his destination; an underground chamber creating several more warp-pipes which he himself had created along with his brother. As Mario approaches the entrance, he is caught by surprise and knocked off his feet by an unknown creature. Looking up from the ground, he sees the creature blocking his entrance into the chamber. All he can see of the creature from underneath its overly-large robes are the piercing glow of its eyes.

"You have come to stop my master, King Bowser," the creature tells him in an unnaturally high and drawn-out squeak of a voice. "Don't bother trying to deny it – I have been following you since your arrival into the sewers, and I know who you are."

Pushing himself to his feet, Mario responds brusquely, "I won't pretend to deny that, but I will ask, who is this King Bowser you speak of?"

The creature cackled before responding, "You are quite bold to ask such a thing. Very well, I will oblige, so that you may come to know and fear the great might and power of our King. King Bowser is the master of a secret magic, and the new ruler of this land. He has chosen your Mushroom Kingdom's princess to be his queen, a high honor indeed. Now, mortal being, return to your lands above and tell your people of their new ruler."

"He must have stolen the other Flower," thought Mario. "Creature! You must grant me passage into the next room, for us must meet with your King," Mario replied.

"Foolish man, none are worthy to stand before the splendor of King Bowser save myself. I had thought to spare you, but now I, the mighty Magikoopa, will give you a taste of the true power that our lord Bowser has shared with me!"

At this, the creature cast a magical energy sphere at Mario, which he swiftly dodged. Summoning another fireball, he cast it at the creature, which screeched in pain as it robes were lit aflame.

"You are strong, Mushroom Hero, but none are stronger than King Bowser!"

The creature then sealed the entranceway with a magical barrier before preparing another attack, but Mario quickly threw two more fireballs, causing the creature known as Magikoopa to shrivel up into nothingness with one final screech. Mario breathed a sigh of relief, and the barrier dispersed with the death of its caster, leaving the way clear for Mario to proceed.

Inside the chamber, Mario sees that all of his warp-pipes have been destroyed, and in their place stands a solitary orange one, with the engraving,

"Only He who wields the power of Fire may pass through this portal."

Mario now knows that his opponent, this King Bowser, must have also been the thief of a year previous when the other Flower of Fire was stolen. He can feel an unearthly heat emanating from the pipe, not dissimilar from that of the Flower of Fire. As he jumps into this new pipe as well, he feels again the burning sensation he felt when gaining the powers of Fire. As he travels through space again, he finds himself transported to a new and unfamiliar place. Before him, standing ruggedly on a scorched landscape stood the Castle of King Bowser, his final destination.

Inside the castle, Mario was faced with more creatures similar to the Magikoopa he had defeated, but without the powers of magic. These creatures were more physically inclined, but were weaker still than his first opponent. He was forced to defeat several of them as he advanced towards the uppermost tower of the castle. Finally, Mario came upon a hallway wreathed in flame, at the end of which he could see a pair of grand, red doors leading into what must have been the throne room. Mario walks purposefully down the hallways and reaches the red doors, which he thrusts open to reveal Bowser sitting on a Throne, with the princess on a smaller throne beside him.

"Welcome, Mario of the Mushroom Kingdom," the great, hulking brute known as Bowser calls out to him. "I've been expecting you."

As Mario continues into the vast throne room, Bowser also rises off of his thrown and carelessly waves a hand, magically pushing the throne of the princess into a small chamber behind them and closing the door.

"You've done well to get this far, but this is where your journey ends. You shall not defeat me."

At this, he dashed forward with startling speed his hand transformed into a flaming claw, with which he bashed the surprised Mario back against the wall.

"You are weaker than expected," Bowser scoffs. "This will be over soon, and I will take my queen to the surface to rule the land."

Mario responds by sending out three more fireballs of his own, which took Bowser in the chest. Growling in pain and anger, Bowser lunges forward again, but this time Mario was alert. Jumping to the side, Mario throws two more fireballs to bounce of the wall and hit Bowser yet again. Mario takes this moment of weakness to leap behind Bowser and knock him to the ground with a powerful blast of flame. He then grabs Bowser by the legs and hurls him crashing into his own throne, which crumbles about him. Roaring with rage, Bowser bursts forth from the rubble of his throne and scorches Mario all over with an overwhelming spurt of fire breath. He then charges Mario once more to deliver the final crushing blow, only to be crushed himself under the weight of his own enormous chandelier. Mario had melted the chains fastening it to the ceiling while Bowser was stuck in the wreckage of his throne. Approaching his fallen adversary, Mario stares at the body amidst the broken remains of the chandelier with shock. The beast that he fought melts away to reveal a man, breathing haggardly as he struggles to survive a little longer.

Mario runs forward and falls to his knees beside the figure, tears rapidly forming on his face as he looks down in horror.

"Luigi…"

"Mario, I… I'm sorry…" Luigi give as weak grin as his brother clasps his hand. "I caught the thief and took the flower from him; once I did, the flower became one with me. I could feel its power coursing through me, and I lost control. I grew in my power, and eventually I thought of home. I wanted to show them how strong I was… I was jealous. Everyone always paid attention to you, and I was frustrated that they never noticed the things I did for the kingdom."

"No, I'm sorry Luigi. I didn't think about you when we would work for the princess and for the kingdom. But I want you to know, even if they didn't recognize you, I always did. I couldn't have done everything without you, and now…"

"Mario, you did what you had to do. I don't blame you… Please though, heed my final warning. Rid yourself of the Flower of Fire before its power infects you. It's too strong…"

Luigi's breathing slowed, and his body started to glow as if on fire.

"Mario… Please don't tell the princess what I have done…"

Mario nodded tearfully, and at that Luigi's body burst into flame, burning away to leave only a faded orange flower, a dulled remnant of the Flower of Fire that had burned within him. Grabbing the sad little flower, Mario ran up to the final chamber and opened the door where the princess was, tied to her throne. His journey had finally come to an end.

Mario was never the same after his quest to rescue the princess. After escorting the princess back to the castle, he had her assistance in magicking the Flower of Fire from his body. Then, he retreated back to his home, where he remained apart from the rest of the kingdom. Every now and then the princess would visit him there, bringing food as he requested before leaving the castle. And on the mantle-piece over his fireplace, a small flower rested within a waterless vase, drawing strength from the fire and never completely wilting.

**That concludes my myth story; I hope you enjoyed what is intended to be a twist of the classic Mario story. My apologies if this has been done already, I haven't read any Mario stories. If it bears too much resemblance to another story and you would like me to remove it, please ask and I will do so. Any feedback is appreciated. Thanks for reading!**


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